The Cleverest of Assassins
by Aquenee
Summary: The more a man knows of insanity, the more insanity knows of the man. Vexen's thoughts, as well as VexRox and RokuShi.
1. Chapter 1

A certain platinum-haired scientist sat against the stark white walls of his lab, hazy orbs of emerald green fixed on a faraway still potion he was letting sit out. It was mesmerizing, calming, even. It certainly meant the nobody had not much to do, aside from wait and think. And think he did, thoroughly and often. He didn't need a subject to think about, it would lazily drift across a flowing river of ideas, from topic to topic, and he always thought far too much than he should have, drifting too far away. Out to the ocean.

A subject that always squirmed its way through the tangled mass of ideas and into the scientist's current stream of thoughts was one that nobodies tended to think about quite a bit: hearts. How the lack of such changed everything. It made the world seem bland, colourless and dull, as if ten thousand leeches had sucked all that resembled fun away from it. Where nothing was worth while in the depressing non-existence. Vexen had decided one point to make from the bleak thoughts was that without emotions, anything remotely sentient will approach the edge of madness almost ten times as fast as with emotions.

No matter who or why, every human falls to insanity's temptations. Some more severely than others, but everyone does in some shape or form. Emotion has always been a crutch and a detriment, the latter in resisting madness. There's no need for the delirium as it is what is there to replace happiness, joy, positive emotions, if only negative emotions didn't exist. Insanity and it's temptations are always there to bring negative emotions back to positive, and thus appears in all sentient beings, as the scientist decided. However, without positive emotions to replace madness, it becomes overwhelming, domineering. A beast in the shadows preparing to pounce and devour a helpless victim and drag them into senseless hysteria.

Some resist insanity better than others, even without emotion.

Madness is formed within the brain, and works as the most clever of assassins. There are some that simply don't care about the world around them, don't mind not being the sharpest tool in the shed, or are failing at doing so. They don't care about (or succeed in) understanding and comprehending everything. These are 'dumber' brains so to speak. Insanity, as said, is clever, deceptive, cunning and brilliant. Whilst no being is immune, madness knows well to destroy and dominate the ones with understanding of how slyly it works, eliminate the true dangers first.

The more a man knows of insanity, the more insanity knows of the man. Weaknesses, faults, what buttons to press to force his scream.

The scientist smiled. He appreciated madness, it distracted him from the dull, bleak world, just as the cleverest assassin was meant to do. He had his bouts of stranger thoughts, a feeling foreign and numbing, but good, but he didn't mind as long as it was that; good. Something good within the infinitely-expanding dark cage around his lack of a heart. Vexen was approaching madness, that's right, and approaching it far, far quicker than the rest of the Organization.

It was almost like an old friend to him.

Just as the cleverest of assassins should feel like.

And Vexen knew, the more he knew of insanity...

He knew very well of insanity.


	2. Chapter 2

Endlessly and tirelessly sprinting, keyblade in hand, the young blonde made his way through the floors of the Castle that Never Was, weaving in and out between vicious guardian heartless. He wasn't too welcome any more, and he knew this well, but he didn't care. He couldn't, with only one flood of similar thoughts dominating his mind and whatever heart he would have.

Another flawless leap, beelining for a target room of the Castle, the one room that he knew, despite never being there or even knowing the existence of it, she was there. All he could think about was that room and her, not a thought crossing about it as his key came down on an unsuspecting shadow. Roxas didn't even notice, couldn't see past the blur whizzing around his world. He wasn't bothered as long as he knew where he was going, which he knew he was on the right path. The blonde could sense it, he could sense her...

Flinging the door open without a thought of greeting or any words for that matter, the key of destiny entered the chilled air of the Castle Laboratory, a place of escape for a certain ice-elemented scientist. A pair of deep, disturbed and tortured blue eyes set themselves on one side of the laboratory, which supported a small, dank flight of stairs downward. At the end was a door that Roxas always wondered what might be inside. But now, without even entering, he knew exactly what Vexen hid under there. It was her, he could sense her presence almost a thousand times as powerfully as before. He was so close...

Roxas couldn't stand it anymore, his brain simply urged his muscles to move, to sprint, to run for the stairs and forget the rest of the world. And he did so, the heavy footsteps breaking the train of thoughts of a nearby scientist, who sat idly against the wall and considered the inner workings of madness, insanity, and temptation. Vexen had looked up to see a blonde-haired keybearer running for the descending stairs, eyes anxious and filled with a despair. The scientist's cold, green eyes widened and he brought himself to his feet upon realization. The boy was heading for hell, and for the ice-elemental's greatest and most successful of experiments...

The Replica Program.

Clawing desperately at the knob on the door, Roxas tore it open like a starving, ravenous bird of prey would rip apart a juicy victim, as if the opening of the door was the most vital piece of life. Unaffected by the blinding impact of the excessively bright, white lights of the room, he accelerated forward, sprinting aimlessly through the hidden part of the laboratory, guided only by the compass of his sense, of what he clearly knew. The only pristine, crystalline thing within his mind, as clear as cloudless skies and flawlessly sparkling water, was her. Her being. Her soul. It was here, so close, so intoxicatingly _close_.

The blonde stopped, standing calm and still, his eyes still shut from the sheer light of the room. Was she here? She felt here, right here, right where his feet now stood atop the stark white, cold, hard floor. He felt warmer, enveloped in an almost angelic, soft heat compared to the rest of the laboratory. In only this spot. The keybearer took a deep breath, taking in the pleasant, fresh air and letting himself go, melting enrapturedly to his knees. She had to be here, it was the only warm fill of happiness he could have. Slowly, he lifted his hand and stretched out his arm, reaching longingly forward, as if he could pull in an even further surge of bliss.

His fingertips brushed a hard, cold surface that sent a shiver down Roxas's arm and throughout his body, forcing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end and his warm, dreamy feeling to slowly drift away as reality returned. A gust of chilling air destroyed what was left of the warmth and pleasure, dragging the boy back down into sense, actuality. A deep, sickening feeling of fear began to wrap around and poke cruelly into his stomach, scared for what he'll see when he opened his eyes.

Finally bringing the courage into himself, the blonde boy slowly and shakily opened his pair of deep ocean blue eyes, still tainted with the despair of being ripped from what little pleasure he had in her presence. He saw that his hand had come into contact with thick glass. It wrapped around into a large tank filled with cold liquid, as well as a being.

The very being he had come to see, he knew, despite only being able to settle his eyes on what he had first seen; two bare, small, dainty feet and ankles. The anxiousness and fear coiled around his stomach and squeezed tighter like a vicious, strangulating snake. His breath had sped up, become more frequent and heavy, shaking despairingly with each exhale. His hands trembled, and his eyes slowly made their way up the tank that contained her.

The same small, but powerful, feminine body, up from knees, to hips, to stomach, to chest and breasts, to arms and shoulders, to the neck and...

Seeing her familiar face, outlined by the same, dark ebony wisps of hair was too much for the boy, and he gave in. The tears that were jerking repeatedly at the corners of his eyes fell free, running down the key of destiny's cheeks and collecting, dripping steadily onto the cold floor. It didn't matter if he had no heart with which to feel the sadness, he still felt the horrible, torturous feeling that constricted his stomach. He beat one shaky, desperate fist against the glass and dropped his head, staring at the forming pool of tears below him. Roxas couldn't keep out the soft whines and whimpers of his tears, the sound of his own crying blocking out the noise of gently approaching footsteps.

"You wouldn't feel so horrible if you let insanity act as happiness. You're only sad because the madness keeps being torn away from you." a foreign, cold, yet honest voice rang next to the boy. He could sense just how honest the scientist was, even if he had never tested him for trustworthiness before. Madness, was it? He had heard before, from the ice-elemental, that madness was the Nobody's equivalent of happiness. Joy. Pleasure.

If it was true, he could derive one simple goal from such an idea. Insanity. He had to give in, melt into and let insanity reign over him. So, so _simple_. But... What about_ her?_

Almost as a gesture as if the scientist could read his thoughts, the key of destiny glanced silently up to the girl's calm, seemingly peaceful, as if sleeping visage, before setting his gaze back to the intruding academic.

"It isn't her," Vexen stated understandingly, "It is one of many versions of No. I, the imaginary number." he explained the presence of the comatose, floating form in the cool tank, striding carefully over to the container and the weeping Roxas.

_Her somebody... isn't it?_

Roxas mumbled the thought under his breath, reaching out to put an arm around the ice-elemental's leg. The scientist gave a light, inward clearing of his throat as the boy grasped his cloak, pulling Vexen down next to him as he cried out into the black leather. Biting his lip, Vexen let himself sit uncomfortably on the cold floor, the key of destiny clenching the dark coat that very soon was dripping many salty tears.

"Y-Yes.. Her somebody." the academic verified Roxas's thoughts, wrapping a single caring arm around the teen's thin figure, pulling him closer and comforting him as any mother would hold and embrace their dearest crying child. "Insanity will make us both feel better.." the scientist muttered into the blonde's ear, tightening his hold and smiling only slightly as the boy's tears began to cease. _Then I will wait for madness..._

The two stayed still for hours, silent, waiting. One of them was waiting for only the most clever of assassins to come. The other was trying hard to resist the killer until it came for the child in his arms.

And on that night, the most clever of assassins claimed two lives, a despairing boy and his surrendering guardian.


End file.
